Rhiannon Giddens Announces New Album With Francesco Turrisi: There Is No Other Out May 3 On Nonesuch

Rhiannon Giddens’ latest album there is no Other, recorded with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, is set for May 3 release on Nonesuch Records. Produced by Joe Henry and tracked over an intensely productive five day period in Dublin, Ireland, there is no Other is at once a condemnation of “othering” and a celebration of the spread of ideas, connectivity, and shared experience.

Tracing the overlooked movement of sounds from Africa and the Arabic world and their influence on European and American music, there is no Other illuminates the universality of music and the commonality of the human experience. It primarily features only Giddens and Turrisi playing one or two instruments together. The album comprises a mix of original songs penned by Giddens and a diverse set of interpretations ranging from Ola Belle Reed’s “I’m Gonna Write Me a Letter,” and Oscar Brown, Jr’s “Brown Baby,” the Italian traditional “Pizzica di San Vito” to the aria “Black Swan” by Gian-Carlo Menotti.

Giddens recently told the Irish Times: “It’s all about movement, for both of us...movements of human beings and how we affect each other. If you just look at our range of instruments, where they’ve come from and how they’ve travelled across the world, it’s pretty amazing. The way that both of us approach music is very similar because we’re both educated about where the music is coming from. But when it comes to playing, we’re both just playing what we feel.”

there is no Other was recorded with little editing and overdubbing. Giddens sings and plays minstrel banjo, octave violin, and viola. Turrisi plays piano, accordion, frame drum, tamburello, lute, cello banjo, daf, and colascione. They are joined on four songs by Kate Ellis on cello. The array of instruments reveal the sonic ties that bind between African, Arabic, European, and American cultures.

Giddens and Turrisi will debut a number of songs from the album at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN this Friday, March 22. She is also a panelist at the festival, and the ballet she and Turrisi scored, Lucy Negro Redux, will be performed twice at Big Ears as well. (Giddens and Turrisi play the score live on stage. Lucy Negro Redux was recently deemed a “miracle” by the New York Times.)

Giddens and Turrisi have also announced an extensive 2019 tour; see below for a full list of dates.

Pre-order the album and watch the “I’m On My Way” video here: http://smarturl.it/thereisnoother. Nonesuch store pre-orders include an exclusive, limited-edition signed print. A deluxe vinyl edition will be released in the fall with details to come.

Rhiannon Giddens is a celebrated artist who excavates the past to reveal bold and candid truths about our present. A MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient, she has performed for the Obama’s at the White House and acted in two seasons of the hit television series Nashville. She has been profiled by CBS Sunday Morning, the New York Times, and NPR’s Fresh Air, among others. Her acclaimed solo albums, Tomorrow is My Turn (along with the EP Factory Girl, produced by T Bone Burnett) and Freedom Highway, received 3 GRAMMY nominations; her work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops (which she co-founded) received a Grammy in 2010. Giddens is also featured in Ken Burns’ Country Music series coming to PBS this fall and will perform at concerts tied to the series in Nashville and New York City. Songs of Our Native Daughters, a collaborative album featuring Giddens that tells the stories of historic black womanhood and survival, was released on Smithsonian Folkways last month to rave reviews.

Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi defies easy categorization. Called “a musical alchemist” by the Irish Times, Turrisi is a Turin–born musician whose Dublin base reflects his global sensibilities. With his unique ability to fold early music, pan-Mediterranean modal melodies, and European flavored jazz into a single repertoire, Turrisi has developed a musical style that crisscrosses cultures and forges musical alliances that are, at once, old and familiar and startlingly brand new. He has performed and recorded with Bobby McFerrin, jazz icon Dave Liebman, early music group l’Arpeggiata, contemporary ensemble Bang on a Can, Irish sean-nós singer Roisin El Safty, and tarantella specialist Lucilla Galeazzi.

Belgian trio BRUTUS, release "Django" today from their forthcoming Sargent House debut, Nest -- out next Friday. The single debuted viaHeavy Consequence on Consequence of Soundwho've described it "dynamic...an anthemic track from beginning to end." BRUTUS explain, "'Django' represents all the people we've hurt in a personal way, but who we never wanted to hurt for longer than just a few seconds. The story takes place in the Far West and is our version of a Western soundtrack, inspired by Italian composer Enio Morricone, Twin Peaks and Duane Eddy."

BRUTUS's unique and genre-bending sound throws a net over post-rock, hardcore, metal and pop. On their forthcoming album, Nest, all their glorious highs and euphoric moments are present - highlighted in magnificent technicolor. Burrowed in amongst those triumphs are moments of reflection; the choices they have made in pursuit of their goals and the impact those choices have had on both themselves and those they have left behind in their nest. The arc of the album charts the friction between the band's forward motion and their desire to maintain a connection to those back at home. It's timeline of invincibility and doubt, of taking risks and letting go; a chronology of what they are and what they've done.

In just a quick few years BRUTUS have caught ears and turned heads worldwide, earning an overwhelming response from critics and fans alike. Their 2017 debut album, Burst, set them on a path of award nominations and 'album of the year' accolades. Having toured with Sargent House label mates Chelsea Wolfe and Russian Circles, BRUTUS also hit the road as main support to Thrice throughout Europe. Taking time out from the live circuit, the band headed to Vancouver to record Nest, once again returning to Jesse Gander known for his work distinguished work with White Lung and Japandroids at his Rain City studio back in September 2018.

BRUTUS is Stefanie Mannaerts (vocals / drums), Stijn Vanhoegaerden (guitar) and Peter Mulders (bass). Bound by a thread that was intangible to others, their shared experiences, both good and bad; Nest is the sound of a band who know how to use the strength of their bond to full effect, to use every part of themselves as an additional tool for conveying their message: take care of those in your own nest. BRUTUS find their places of comfort to be very different to the ones previously held dear; the nest they started out with is not quite the same one as they stand in today.

Nest is out next Friday via Hassle in Europe and via Sargent House in the rest of the world. For pre-orders and further info go here. Stay tuned for North American tour dates.

"If this is the shape of punk to come, it's far prettier and more unpredictable than we ever could have imagined." TREBLE

"It's part ethereal wave, part post rock, part D-beat, and drummer/singer Mannaerts' truly soaring vocals take the genre-defying song to another level." BROOKLYN VEGAN

"their fresh sound makes for a glorious ride... Mannaerts' impassioned, borderline histrionic range recalls Björk at her most acrobatic, and her shifting rhythms behind the kit are just as athletic..." POPMATTERS

The Budos Band will release their new album titled V on April 12 viaDaptone Records. The band previously shared album tracks “Old Engine Oil” and “Arcane Rambler” to critical acclaim. Today, they have unleashed “Veil of Shadows”, a brooding, cinematic new single. Known to have a selective touring schedule, the band is thrilled to kick off a North American tour with two NYC shows which will include legendary label mates Menahan Street Band and Dap-King Homer Steinweiss’ Holy Hive on the bill. Flagship Brewery (Staten Island, NY) are making a custom beer available only at the two NYC shows.

Over the course of their nearly decade and a half long career, the 60’s/70’s influenced afro-soul instrumental band’s thunderous and eclectic sound has known no bounds. Budos Band V is a collection of expertly crafted energizing guitar licks, syncopated percussion precision, vigorous horns, and validates that the band is in their most monumental form to date.

Guitar player/producer, Tom Brenneck says Budos Band V feels like the truest representation of the band, describing the record as having the rock and roll element found in their 2014 album, Burnt Offering, as well as songs that could have found themselves on the first three Budos records. Two decades of playing together has resulted in an evolved sound since their Afro-soul beginnings, but no matter how many new influences get mixed in over the years, they remain in sync. This harmonious blend stems from the collaboration between Brenneck and Daptone co-founder Gabe Roth, who produced the band's first three records and was at the helm of the mixingboard for Budos Band V.

Make sure to catch The Budos Band on tour in a city near you! Full list of tour dates below and here.

Ibibio Sound Machine will release their new album Doko Mien tomorrow, and today they are sharing the video for the groovesome, inclusive album single "Wanna Come Down." Brooklyn Vegan described the track as an "infectious jam from the album that mixes disco, '80s electro with English and Ibibio language lyrics," and the video captures the song's liveliness. Watch the Steve Gullick-directed video here: https://youtu.be/fS52yAAaWhE

The band previously released title track "Tell Me (Doko Mien)" featuring disco beats colliding with polyrhythm and pizzicato guitar. Stereogum called it "an absurdly infectious percussive party track seemingly inspired by the same influences that fueled Talking Heads and LCD Soundsystem," and Afropunk said it "sounds like the lost child of some early-'80s, New York session produced by Lisa Lisa's Cult Jam, or by Gloria Estefan's old Miami crew." The group also recently shared the sultry "Guess We Found a Way," a refreshing change of pace from the more uptempo cuts previously released from Doko Mien, which Stereogumdescribed as "a deep, dreamy groove of a slow jam"-a further indication of the many moods and influences at play across the album's 11 tracks.

"Music is a universal language, but spoken language can help you think about what makes you emotional, what makes you feel certain feelings, what you want to see in the world," says frontwoman Eno Williams. When she uses both English and Ibibio-the Nigerian language from which her band's name is derived-on Doko Mien, the group somehow produces a world of both entrancing specificity and comforting universality, a language entirely of their own. In a glowing piece in the New York Times, the songs on the band's 2017 second album, Uyai, were praised for following "in the tradition of much African music, [making] themselves the conscience of a community." By pulsing the mystic shapes of Williams' lines through further inventive, glittering collages of genre on Doko Mien, Ibibio Sound Machine crack apart the horizon separating cultures, between nature and technology, between joy and pain, between tradition and future.

Long lauded for their jubilant, explosive live shows (Entertainment Weekly best described them, saying, "If the United Nations' General Assembly convened at Studio 54, Ibibio Sound Machine would easily be that night's headlining act"), the group fully capture that energy and communication on the new album. After a set of recent album-release shows throughout the UK including sold-out shows in London, Bristol, and Manchester, Ibibio Sound Machine just announced new fall UK dates and a rescheduled U.S. tour set for this summer. Stateside shows include an appearance at MRG30 in North Carolina and at Pickathon in Oregon. See their current tour routing below!

Today, Moscow singer and producer, Kedr Livanskiy shares a second track from her hotly anticipated new album Your Need. "Ivan Kupala (New Day)" closes the record with a message of hope. In Kedr's own words, "The ending is joyful and bright. The last song gives hope and faith that a new day will come and wash away the old. You can feel like new every day."

Your Need is an album which celebrates of life and rebirth. It's about a fighter's spirit, and if you will, a little audacity and courage. DJ'ing and early forms of dance music inspired a furious burst of creative energy after months of melancholy, sadness and reflection to record the album in only a matter of weeks.

After her breakout album, Ariadna, which put her on the forefront of Russia's burgeoning electronic scene, Kedr felt lost with her identity and was searching for the direction of her next chapter. For a while she felt trapped by her own image and needed quite some time to resolve this internal dissonance - to grow, to evolve.

DJ'ing was the main catalyst to pull her out of this rut. The art form shifted her inspiration to mainly old school styles of dance music: ghetto, house, breakbeat and UK garage. For the prior year and a half she was listening to ambient, kraut-rock and more experimental genres - one can hear the brighter, more energetic influence of early electronic music in the songs on Your Need.

One day she was talking with her friend Flaty (Zhenya), a very talented artist from St. Petersburg who's signed to the GOST ZVUK label, and they decided to do a single together. He came to visit her in Moscow, but they ended up spending 10 whole days writing music together, from dawn to dusk.

They vibed off each other's musical ideas perfectly and understood each other even without speaking. Zhenya is a beatmaster and pays attention to even the smallest details of a track. He brought incredible richness to the composition and Kedr considers him her teacher in this area. Kedr was in charge of the melodies and vibe of the tracks, and the vocal elements.

Your Need is like a chapter of life. It's a story that illustrates different scenarios and moods that our mythical hero experiences, living in an urban jungle. From lost love to a bad trip on the dance floor, from euphoria to deep introspection. Our hero sometimes feels bold, lost or devastated, but also tender and full, like all of us at some point in life. The ending is joyful and bright. The last song gives hope and faith that a new day will come and wash away the old. You can feel like new every day.

Your Need reflects an array of genres and a mix of cultures -- a harmonious combination of differences. Everything Kedr loves about ghetto music, in the traditions of house, dub, breakbeat, 90s electronic music and modern sounds - she's embraced and expressed it all throughout. Your Need is Kedr's ode to music from different eras and changing periods.

Calexico and Iron & Wine today announce Years to Burn, their first full–length album together, available June 14th via City Slang in the UK/Europe and Sub Pop in the rest of the world. A lead track entitled “Father Mountain” has been shared HERE and an extensive North American, European, and UK tour has been announced with more dates to be added in the coming weeks. See all dates below.

Calexico and Iron & Wine first made an artistic connection with In the Reins, the 2005 EP that brought Sam Beam, Joey Burns and John Convertino together. The acclaimed collaboration introduced both acts to wider audiences and broadened Beam’s artistic horizons, but it was the shared experience of touring together in the tradition of Bob Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” that cemented the bond. Their metaphorical roads diverged in the years that followed, but they kept in touch and cross-pollinated where they could. Although they often talked about rekindling their collaboration in the studio and on stage, it wasn’t until last year that their schedules aligned.

Years to Burn can’t help but be different from In the Reins. Back then, Calexico entered the studio with a long list of previous collaborations (first in Giant Sand, then backing the likes of Victoria Williams and Richard Buckner) and the knowledge that they loved Sam’s voice and his songs, but wondered if his material was so complete and self-contained that it lacked a way in, so hushed and delicate that it might be overwhelmed. For his part, Beam had been intimidated by their virtuosic playing and their deep comfort in an encyclopedic array of styles. “In my mind, I was a guy who knew three chords and recorded in a closet,” Sam says. “They were playing big stages and were superb musicians."

Those fears were dispelled quickly. Calexico was bowled over by Beam’s many talents: “The arranging, the writing, his sense of rhythm, the quality of his vocals—and then there’s the experimental side of Sam,” Joey says. “They were the perfect band at the perfect time for me,” Sam adds. “I loved all their different sounds. They’re musical anthropologists, not regurgitating but absorbing what they discover.” Nearly 15 years on, “coming back to the project has to do with acknowledging how much impact the first record had for me in my life.”

Years to Burn was recorded in Nashville with noted producer Matt Ross-Spang over the course of five days at Sound Emporium, a fabled studio founded in the sixties by Cowboy Jack Clement and the site of countless landmark sessions in country and rock over the ensuing decades. It features contributions from veteran Calexico trumpet player Jacob Valenzuela and Paul Niehaus on pedal steel, along with frequent Beam cohorts Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio) on piano and Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Fiona Apple) on bass.

Years to Burn features ten new original compositions. While Beam wrote all the songs for In the Reins, this recording features contributions from both Beam and Burns as well as from Convertino and those featured on the record. While the two may have taken differing approaches to songwriting, the spirit of collaboration was alive and well in the studio; Sam shared demos ahead of time and was ready for the others to contribute with arrangement ideas and instrumental parts, while Joey spontaneous as ever, came in with concepts and an eagerness to improvise.

“Life is hard. Awesome. And scary as shit. But it can lift you up if you let it,” Sam offers. “These are the things Joey and I write about now. And the title can encapsulate a lot of things. ‘Years to Burn’ could mean you’re cocky, you’ve got it made. Or, our life is ours to burn, to be inspired. Or you’re burned by life, brutalized. It’s an ambiguous title, because life is complicated. Let’s not talk like teenagers about love, desire, pain, ‘cause we’re not teenagers. And that’s not a bad thing.”

“This project had to find the right time,” Joey concludes. “We’re all different people than we were in 2004, and music helps to bridge some of the gaps. For all the things going on in our world and in each of our lives, this connection, this friendship, this love that we have—this album is a vehicle for that bond. It’s a chance to see where we’re at, take stock and be there for our friends.”

Years to Burn is available June 14th via City Slang in the UK/Europe and Sub Pop in the rest of the world. Album artwork and tracklisting below.

Years to Burn

1. What Heaven's Left

2. Midnight Sun

3. Father Mountain

4. Outside El Paso

5. Follow The Water

6. The Bitter Suite (Pájaro / Evil Eye / Tennessee Train)

7. Years To Burn

8. In Your Own Time

For more information on Years to Burn, the full bio is available here.

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The Portable Infinite is an online music and arts magazine based in Los Angeles. We are a collective of independent artists supporting and promoting other cutting edge independent musicians and artists.
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